Three Months Down

Friday brought the 3 month mark for us! Our first quarter of deployment is complete! I mean really think about it... we are already 1/4 of the way there!! We are doing great!! If you can't tell, Drew and I are excited about this! Last week Drew and I were saying we are kind of over January so we are also happy that tomorrow is February. Hard to believe we have not seen each other since October! Drew had a good week and was extremely busy this weekend. They are helping the IPs (remember that means Iraqi Police) to secure a checkpoint on the southwest end of the city. Drew had his first 24 hour shift on Saturday and might have these shifts a couple of times a week through March. He isn't quite sure yet of the schedule. He likes it though and said it isn't too bad. After March they hope to return the checkpoint's control completely back over to the IPs since they are competent. The soldiers are helping with the extra support and security because of the elections like I mentioned last week. According to Drew's boss, the guys are doing a good job!

Here's Drew with his interpreter who goes by Adam. This picture is from a mission this week.

Although I couldn't talk to Drew this weekend as much as we usually do, I stayed busy with my friend Susan coming in town. We became good friends when I lived in Atlanta. It was great to see her! Saturday the weather turned gross and it was 55 and raining. We decided to act like it was 70 and sunny and we still went to Tybee and explored the city. Saturday night we went out with all the wives and had a nice time. I love having visitors!! Next weekend my cousin Ellen is coming and we are running a 10K in Hilton Head. It really helps the time go by quickly when I keep busy. That will be fun!!

We were being total tourists at the Crab Shack and took pictures at every photo opportunity. This place has live gators and is a marina too. Very fun place!


This is me on Tybee's pier. I was supposed to be acting like it was warm and sunny but I guess my acting skills are not as great as I thought. I look pretty chilly here! Can you believe there were guys surfing when we there?

Pictures of Drew

Here are more pictures of Drew from his mission today. He said it was really cold which you can kind of tell because his nose and ears are a little red. :) Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I do!

Group Picture

This is from when Drew was in Kuwait waiting to go to Kirkuk.

Here's a hint: Our guy is on the bottom right. :)

Bad Luck

Last week was the week of bad luck for us! Both Drew and I experienced unlucky things. I don't know what the deal was but I hope someone was having really good luck at the expense of our bad luck! On Thursday morning I stepped on a spongy wet spot on my carpet near our bedroom door. I immediately called my Dad because I couldn't believe it was happening AGAIN! If you'll remember, the day after Drew deployed I found a spongy wet spot in our family room and I had to go through a week of house demolition while they jackhammered the foundation, found the leak, poured concrete, replaced the carpet.... Yep it happened again. This time in the hallway and into the guest bedroom. The water even seeped into the closet in my office. So for the past 5 days I have been dealing with that. It was a little hard to talk to Drew and get work done while they were jackhammering and using a shop vac to get up all the water. I guess some builder in the area did not use the right copper pipes that he should have to follow code. It is nice that we rent our house so all I had to do was call the property manager but still, what a nightmare! Today they finished up replacing the carpet and now I am good to go. I can now clean all of the dust and carpet shreds that are all over.

On Saturday, I was supposed to go to a kickoff event for a Walk to Iraq fitness challenge that we are doing. I had been talking to Drew and realized I needed to head to base so I walked out the door with everything else except for my car keys and a jacket. So I locked myself out of my house and the car. Luckily I had my cell phone so I googled a locksmith and waited for him to come. But now that I think of it, maybe my luck was already improving at that point because I did have a water bottle and a banana with me. Could have been worse! I could have been cold AND hungry!

As for Drew's bad luck, he was working on his truck like he always does and went to slide up the turret. The turret is where the gunner goes on top of the truck. When you slide it up, it is supposed to rest on two hooks. Well, Drew slid it up and the hooks didn't hold and it came down on his middle finger. It almost took off the tip of his finger but stopped at about 3/4 of the way through. He will be fine but it looks pretty gross!! The medics got him taken care of and he has to change the bandages all the time but at least he didn't lose his finger! Drew and I are looking forward to the coming week where we can leave our bad luck behind us! Never a dull moment.

Drew continues to do well over there. You have probably seen it on the news but things are getting a little bit stickier over there with the elections coming up in March. Insurgents are getting more active and will likely continue to even months after the elections. But that is exactly why our guys are there and they are ready for it. Drew is well trained and staying sharp!

Fun News

I know I just posted but I had to share some fun news that I learned today!

1) Drew is now coming home in April as opposed to March. This was his first choice so we are really excited! It sounds strange to be excited to see him later but this will be at the halfway mark. Then it will only be six months when we say bye to each other instead of seven. We both still cannot wait to see each other! We feel bad for some guys that are coming home now because it has only been a short time and they have to say bye to their families for another 8-9 months. So we feel fortunate to see each other at the halfway mark. Woo hoo!!

2) Drew gets to drink 2 beers on Superbowl! Drew has not had a beer since October 28th (the night before he left) and he is excited! I told him I hope it is ice cold in a frosty mug but that is probably not going to happen. Oh well! It is a little reward to look forward to and by all means that man has earned it!

More Military Friends

This past Friday, I decided last minute to drive up to North Carolina to visit our good friends Kyle and Ellie. Kyle and Drew went to college together and Kyle was Drew's roommate for a long time before we got married. It was by all definitions last minute. I talked to Kyle late Friday morning and left Friday evening with the dogs. It was great! There are a few guys in our circle of friends and family that I especially enjoy being around if I miss Drew because they give me a little piece of him. They have a sense of humor similar to Drew and they give me trouble in a funny way. Kyle is one of those guys. He calls me the little sister he never wanted if that gives you a better idea of our relationship. :) And his wife Ellie is as cute as can be! Kyle joined the military about 2 1/2 years ago. He is now stationed at Fort Bragg. They have a really cute house there and he is getting ready to deploy in April. It was nice to meet even more military families with guys doing really neat things. Just like in our neighborhood, hanging out with the neighbors on the weekends is a given. We had a bonfire last night and I was watching one of the guys hold his 3 month old daughter as he chased and played with his 2 year old son. Once again, I thought to myself that I appreciate Drew soooo much. He is over there now so these guys can be here with their wives and children. It makes me proud.

This week Drew and I have not been able to talk as much as we would like because his internet has been acting up. One night he was on guard and it started working so he was able to call me after midnight his time. The next time we talked he was in his neighbor's room and the guys were right there once again. You make do though! He finally got everything set up today and is good to go. The 3 guys were down to only one internet cord that they had to share but they have all new lines installed and have their own cords. Yay!

This past Friday Drew had another PT test. He did great! He ran his 2 miles in 12:55 which I think is really fast! That is just under a 6 1/2 minute mile. That's my big man! :) His company's PT average score was over 280 which is really good. Drew was excited and it makes his group look good. I guess those daily workouts are paying off. :) He had the day off yesterday which is always nice too. He felt like the week went by really quickly between the missions, workouts, PT test...etc so that is good. Let the time keep flying by!!

Here are pictures from this weekend: (And no, Drew did not forget about his homework to send pictures but, like I mentioned, the internet has not been cooperating. So still stay tuned...)

This is Kyle's wife Ellie. It was such a nice visit!

Ellie and Kyle


We were laughing because Kyle had his overalls on and this is the main wardrobe for Drew and his brother Pete at the farm. The Harris Family Christmas Card from Drew's Mom even had Drew and Pete in their overalls. :)

This is from an Adventure Land place we went to on Saturday. It was a riot! If you look at this picture closely the branch makes it look like the giraffe has a noose around his neck. I hope PETA doesn't make me take this picture off our blog!

One Year In

This week brings the one year mark that Drew has been in the military. Hard to believe Drew and I have already been at this military thing for a year now. Drew has come a long way and I am sure he will only continue to work hard and make his country proud. I must say it has been a whirlwind of events but it has been fun! Drew and I were talking the other day and it is a crazy thing to not know what we will be up to next year or the next year or the year after that! I have come a long way from my need to plan my entire year/life to not knowing when I will see Drew in March. Speaking of that... we are getting VERY excited to see each other! We find ourselves thinking about it a ton! I always laugh because I have this funny vision in my head from the movies where you see each other from a distance, and run at each other in slow motion until you meet with a big kiss! Yeah right! When I saw him after 2 1/2 months in basic I was sooooooooo excited, couldn't sleep at all and had butterflies the size of Texas, but when I saw him it was as if I had just seen him that day. It was absolutely perfect. That is the neat part that regardless of how long we go without seeing each other, it is just like normal (but better than ever!) when we are back together. It also helps too that we get to see each other everyday. It makes a world of difference! We always sign off of our computers with a smile on our faces. It makes any day that much better when you get to talk to your husband!
Drew has been off the past few days and has really enjoyed it. His team continues to support the Iraqi Police (IPs). This past week the IPs celebrated their 88th birthday and they held an IP graduation. They have come a long way! Drew's team has also created and secured a new checkpoint to help protect the city and Drew's group will begin manning that soon. So lots going on over there and lots going on here. I am sorry for the delayed posting but I have been busy with work. And Drew finally has his camera charger so I have given him homework of sending me pictures this week. So more pictures of Drew soon!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! Drew and I are excited it is not only a new year but it is already January! Although I wish Drew could have been with me on New Year's Eve, he planned it perfectly to call me right when the ball dropped. I was at a neighborhood party and literally saw the ball drop on tv with everyone and my cell phone rang. It was so cute! I know it sounds dumb to get so excited about a phone call but you get creative and happy with the little things when we are so far away. So Drew was the first person I talked to in 2010. I also told him Happy New Year when he was going to bed the night before because he didn't stay up until midnight. (Remember he is 8 hours ahead of me so New Years came much sooner for him.) He had a nice relaxing day off which is always nice.

We are so excited that it is already January because... he will be coming home in March! Meaning, we get to see each other in 8-12 weeks depending on when it is in March!! WOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! Saying we are so excited to see each other doesn't even describe it!!!! That will be considered his mid-tour leave which is meant to give the guys some R&R time and rejuvenate them to come back for the rest of the year. Drew and I are going to save the visits and parties for when he really comes home in October next year. When he comes home in March we are going to do a whole lot of nothing and it will be great! We likely will go on a short trip but Drew is more excited to sit on the couch, sleep in our bed, and play with the dogs. I can't wait to ask him what he wants for dinner! Little things like that are what we really miss. So that is our main focus and highlight to look forward to right now. He was actually surprised when I told him I was going to take vacation time from work when he was home. I told him HELLO- I see my husband for 2 weeks for the entire year!!! I think that is vacation time well spent!!! :) :)

Drew continues to work and workout. As far as work goes, they have been helping the community to rebuild and continue to work towards independence. Much of Drew's missions consist of humanitarian work and supporting the Iraqi Police (IPs). Drew has some funny stories about the IPs and the different characters he meets. He is impressed with their skills though and says they are good guys.

Here's a picture of the IPs with our soldiers. And no, Drew is not in this picture. He finally will have his camera charger this week so I should get some more of OUR soldier! :)


I thought you would want to know too that Drew once again had an AWESOME Christmas Day spread. His only complaint is that they tend to overcook the fish and meat to prevent foodborne illness. He is looking forward to some sushi and a little grilling in our backyard where he can cook it the way he likes it.


Here are a few pictures from New Year's Eve. We cannot wait until our husbands come home!






This picture is from this past Saturday. My friend's daughter Alex loves that we both have the same birthday in July. Well, she was so excited she told our waiter at the Mexican restaurant but he misunderstood. He thought she was telling him it was her birthday so he brought the Mexican Hat. Drew loved this picture! Probably because he misses the Mexican food and the margaritas. Soon enough!!



P.S. If you notice the "Be Warm" blog background, it is not too cold in GA but it is surprisingly cold in Iraq and where most of our family are friends are. So warm wishes to all! :)